Sofa-bed



o .UNITED sr vtries.

.ausi/AH AA. v:onwniulor vsnit FnANorsoo, CALIFORNIA, Ynsstenen, @BY 'Masern-,ASSIGN- MENms,.To'MURPHYnooR'BED COMPANY, orlsAN rminorsooyoenrronmn.,Aveo- PARTNERSHIP FIB/'M -GONSISTING AOli WILLIAM YL. MURPHY `@AND `WILLIA1VI 1K.;

` WHITE.

v SOFA-BED.

Specification of Letters Patent.

. Application filed. May `5, 1917. Serial No. 166,607.

`a bed with wire fabric and upholstered mattress of full standard-size, which is convertible'into a sofa by folding.

y 'Another object of my invention is -to provide a 'structure ofthe yclass described Vin l'whic'hrthejlength of the sofa is the width of Ythe`bed,'the"bedjfolding across its length When converted into' the sofa.

Another object of my invention is to providev a struotureofr` the class described in which the pillows and bed 'clothes may be left upon the hea'djof'theV mattress `when the llatteris folded. ,A l EThe vinvention jpossesses :other features of advantage, some of' which, with .the foregov'in/gfwillbe :set .f'oith inthe following description ofthe preferred `form of'my in- 4so' specification. iIt is to tbe. understood that I jvention which isillustrated in the drawings accompanying Yand 4forming part of the ldo not .limit myself tothe showing` made by i the said drawings and description, as I may .adopt variations of the Vpreferred form intheclaims. p. Referring to the drawings;

within/"the scope of myinvention asset forth when in 'theunfoldedposition to form abe'd. -'Portions of the Lmattress :are 'broken away Uto disclosethe 'structuremore clearly.

Fig. 2 is a 'cross-section; of the sofa bed when nfolded ftoy lform a sofa. YThe upholstored mattress and -wire 'fabric `are omitted.

lFig.' 3 is across-sectionfof ,the sofa 'bed on 'afsmaller scale showing the'fabric and matltress in place.

Fig. 4 is an elevationvof a p'ortionof the middle frame and jthe foot. lframe, showing "the method offlockingfthe vtwo frames-Hin is a "cross-section through amodif Fig, '5

My invention comprises a supporting structure or housing 6 in which a bed .frame 'Patented 'Mayen 192,1.

comprising three ysections ieg-arranged. .',The y middle section-7 of the bed'frame is mounted on pivots 8 set in the housing 6 and isadapted to be turnedfrom 'ya position lying wholly within the housing to aninverted horizontal positionin front ofthe housing. `A rela-vtively short foot section 9, Fig. 4, 'is pivoted to the free end of the middleV section 7 to serve as an extension thereofwhenthe strueture isunfolded to form Va bed.. The pivots 12fconnecting thetwo sections aresetonthev p sides ofl section v9 ashort'dis'tance from the end, andnear .the'end, notches 1-3 are-,pro-

, vided,xadapted ltoengage Vpins liffixedf on the side of section 7 Vwhenithe section -9` is eX- tended into the same plane withsection7. i Y,

Means Aarerprovided for locking the section 9 iii-acute angularmelation with'section 7 Vpreparatory lto folding the structure. A link 16 is pivotedfupon yone side of the secsections are inthe desired angularfrelation to each other.

, tion 9 land lprovided Withy ,a hooked end- 1 .adapted to engage-over-the Apinll'whenthe" heldin engagementv therewithV bya` lever 17 -pivoted atoneend to the section `9 and Vprovided with apinengagingin aslot 18 formed in the'link 16. With the sectionfQ raised into position as shown in Fig. `,Hthe

lever 17 is pushed downward'to :'engagefthe.y

hooked end offthe link over the pin '14' and hold it thereon, the lever then {being substantially at right angles tothe link. A "foot rail 19 is arranged at the 'free lend of 'the'foot Section5), and legs 21.rigidlyiiX'xed upon fthe,r end of section 7 o provide an outboard supi port for the `bed framal A wire'f'abricQQ forming the immediate. support YKfor the up#` ,bolstered lmattress l 23 is lsecured tov` the frames'of thetwo sections-7 andi/,9,but ad-Vv omitted. 'Springs .Qlconnect :the fabric' to 'the end of the foot section. A stif'fe'ningv truss25 boweddownwardly to clear the fabvsection/7 near its outer end.

fric Yand mattress connects theside's of .the

mounted'on pivots"27,jset in 'the housing 6 near the lower front edge,a"n'd carriesthe lThe'head section l26 of the Abed fram'eis `lies inthe lower portion of the housing as shown in Fig. 2, resting upon the bottom rail 29 of the housing. In the bed form shown in Fig. 1, the head section lies at an angle to the horizontal, its head end in the same plane with the middle section 7. The stop 31 set on the housing fixes the upper position of the head section and also the folded position of the middle section 7. The head section is connected to the other bedv sections, only through the fabric 22 and it is turned about the pivots 27 to its upper position by the pull of the fabric when the other two sections are extended. The fabric thus performs three functions. It supports the upholstered mattress, forms the operative connection for raising the head frame to support the fabric in proper position in the bed form of the structure and it retains the head frame in the upper position during use of the bed. The fabric is a triie shorter than the maximum distance between the springs 25 and 28, so that the unfolding movement of the foot section places the springs in tension and draws thek fabric tight. The plane in which the fabric is attached to the bed sections when they are in the bed relation, lies below the plane of the pivots 8 and 12 so that once brought to the extended position shown in Fig. 1, the tension of the springs 25 and 28 tends to retain them in that relation. A short head rail 30 is arranged on the end of the head section 26.` The mattress 23 of standard thickness rests upon theV stretched fabric between the head and foot rails.V

In order to facilitate the movement of the bed frames, a tension spring 32 is connected between the housing 6 and a lever arm 33 on each side of` section 7. 'Ihe springs are so arranged that they take the major portion of the weight of the parts both at the end of the folding movement and also at the end of the unfolding movement, and are substantially without tension at the point wherethe weight is carried entirely by the pivots 8.

When the bed sections are inclosed within the housing, as shown in Fig. 2, the sofa seat Y is formed by a suitably upholstered seat section 36 which is pivotally mounted Von the housing 6 in such a manner` that it turns to an inverted position below fthe y middle bed section as shown in Fig. 1, when the latter is unfolded. This is accomplished by forming an extension arm 37 on each end of the seat section and disposing a pivot pin 38 fixed in the housing, near s the end of each arm and below the pivot 8.

In order to support the rear of the seat section when inverted, a link 41* is pivoted upon a short arm 42 fixed to the seat frame. The link is slotted to engage a pin 43 fixed on the bed section 7, so that the relative movement between the two sections is provided for. The seat section is thus movably attached to the section'7 and moves with it, the rear end of the seat frame being suspended from section 7 when the section is unfolded and resting on the back of the section when folded to the sofa form, the section 7 in turn resting on the upper face of the stop 31.

rIhe back of the sofa is formed by the suitably upholstered back section 45 mounted on pivots 46 fixed in the housing.. Preferably the back section is formed integrally with the top plate 47 so that both swing together about the pivots 46. The back section is provided with a short arm 48 to which is pivoted a link 51. The link is slotted to engage over the fixed pin 52 and a shoulder 53 is formed at the end of the slot so that when the back section is raised to the position indicated by the dotted lines of Fig. 1 the shoulder engages the pin and the link supports the back section in the raised position while the bed frames are being extended. After the bed frames are unfolded the link 51 is disengaged from the pin 52 and the back lframe lowered against the Vstop 54 to form a head board for the bed as shown in F ig.V 1. y l

'Io convert the sofa into a bed, the back frame is first raised, the fingers being inserted in a recess left in the lower edge. The truss 25 on thesection 7 or other convenient portion is then grasped and pulled upward and forward, the movement being strongly assisted by the springs 32. As the section 7 descends to the horizontal position, the springs 32 are again placed in tension so that nearly the entire `weight of the parts is balanced by the springs. Lifting the lever 17 releases the foot section which is then turned down int line. 'Ihe backssection is next lowered and the bed is ready'to be made up.

.By a reversal of the steps just described, the bed is converted intoA a sofa. Fig. 3 shows the relative position of parts when in the sofa form and how the mattress is folded and inclosed by the fabric. It will be noted that the mattress is supported as in a sling by that portion of the fabric 22 lying between the springs 28 and the first `point of support 55 on the section 7.

Fig. 5 shows a modified form..of my invention. In this construction I lengthen the head section 26 so that the head rail is closely adjacent the rear of the housing, and correspondingly shorten thev foot section, so that it lies above the head of the mattress. Preferably the pivot 27 is lowered somewhat, but the relative relation vand movements of the several parts remain without substantial change. The construction shown in Fig. 5 is of value since the mattress in that construction folds but once, the fold between the middle andfoot sections being almost eliminated. The space S, Fig. 3, may, if desired, be utilized for the storage of the bed clothing and pillows 56, as shown in F ig. 5.

I claim:

1. In a sofa bed, a housing, a middle section pivoted directly to said housing and adapted to be moved from a position within the housing to a horizontal position without said housing, a foot section pivotally mounted on said middle section and adapted to be turned from a position in acute angular relation to said middle section to one in horizontal extension thereof, a head section pivoted directly to said housing, an upholstered mattress, and a wire fabricconnecting the remote ends of said foot and head sections and attached to the sides of said middle section and foot section only for supporting said mattress in the sofa and the bed form of said sofa bed.

2. In a sofa bed, a housing, a middle section pivoted directly to said housing, a foot section pivotally mounted on said middle section, a head section pivoted directly to said housing, an upholstered mattress, and a wire fabric connected to said head-and foot sections for supporting said mattress in horizontal position in the bed form of said sofa bed, and connected to said middle section to form a sling for supporting the folded mattress in the sofa formof said sofa bed.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at San Francisco, California, this 26th day of April, 1917.

In presence of C. S. EVANS. 

